Smart Enough To Know When To Critique

[Annie]

It's not just message, joining Buffet and Welch:

Salon.com | Heads should roll

Heads should roll

President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him -- and resurrecting a deflated GOP! Plus: Lay off Rush! And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric
By Camille Paglia

Mar. 11, 2009 |

Free Barack!

Yes, free the president from his flacks, fixers and goons -- his posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship.

Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama's first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. (Michelle, please use those fabulous toned arms to butt some heads!)

First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery. Then it was the stunt of unnerving Wall Street by sending out a shrill duo of slick geeks (Timothy Geithner and Peter Orszag) as the administration's weirdly adolescent spokesmen on economics. Who could ever have confidence in that sorry pair?

And then there was the fiasco of the ham-handed White House reception for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which was evidently lacking the most basic elements of ceremony and protocol. Don't they read the "Iliad" anymore in the Ivy League? Check that out for the all-important ritual of gift giving, which has cemented alliances around the world for 5,000 years.

President Obama -- in whom I still have great hope and confidence -- has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency. But I continue to believe in citizen presidents, who must learn by doing, even in a perilous age of terrorism. Though every novice administration makes blunders and bloopers, its modus operandi should not be a conspiratorial reflex cynicism.

Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.....

 

[strollingbones]

i am very disappointed in the bill that has been rushed thru...is it really a bill? i remember this school house rock about a bill and law...but i digress..this stimulus plan being hailed as needed and a crux move for this country has been rushed in...or has it? if it has not..that is even worse...if obama has not assemblied the greatest minds he can find to advise him..then what is he doing?

as for brown..didnt obama retain the same basic white house staff...i dont mean cabinet...i mean bulters, cooks etc? how could he not realize the tradition of gift giving? of course no one can keep the gifts but the giving is the point...so he blew that one...i really dont care...i am much more focused on him getting his act together and leading this country....

the time for hone toned flowery speech is over..now is the time to realize you must move and move swiftly but with confidence in what you are doing? the country must be lead out of this crisis..but the money invested now must return its investment plus earnings....

as for the clinton's..the battle for the democratic party has been won by the clintons...dean is buried somewhere..never to be seen again...obama has opted to go with the clinton's...i hope that is not his downfall in the long run

 

[Sinatra]

It's not just message, joining Buffet and Welch:

Salon.com | Heads should roll

Heads should roll

President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him -- and resurrecting a deflated GOP! Plus: Lay off Rush! And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric
By Camille Paglia

Mar. 11, 2009 |

Free Barack!

Yes, free the president from his flacks, fixers and goons -- his posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship.

Heads should be rolling at the White House for the embarrassing series of flubs that have overshadowed President Obama's first seven weeks in office and given the scattered, demoralized Republicans a huge boost toward regrouping and resurrection. (Michelle, please use those fabulous toned arms to butt some heads!)

First it was that chaotic pig rut of a stimulus package, which let House Democrats throw a thousand crazy kitchen sinks into what should have been a focused blueprint for economic recovery. Then it was the stunt of unnerving Wall Street by sending out a shrill duo of slick geeks (Timothy Geithner and Peter Orszag) as the administration's weirdly adolescent spokesmen on economics. Who could ever have confidence in that sorry pair?

And then there was the fiasco of the ham-handed White House reception for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which was evidently lacking the most basic elements of ceremony and protocol. Don't they read the "Iliad" anymore in the Ivy League? Check that out for the all-important ritual of gift giving, which has cemented alliances around the world for 5,000 years.

President Obama -- in whom I still have great hope and confidence -- has been ill-served by his advisors and staff. Yes, they have all been blindsided and overwhelmed by the crushing demands of the presidency. But I continue to believe in citizen presidents, who must learn by doing, even in a perilous age of terrorism. Though every novice administration makes blunders and bloopers, its modus operandi should not be a conspiratorial reflex cynicism.

Case in point: The orchestrated attack on radio host Rush Limbaugh, which has made the White House look like an oafish bunch of drunken frat boys. I returned from carnival in Brazil (more on that shortly) to find the Limbaugh affair in full flower. Has the administration gone mad? This entire fracas was set off by the president himself, who lowered his office by targeting a private citizen by name. Limbaugh had every right to counterattack, which he did with gusto. Why have so many Democrats abandoned the hallowed principle of free speech? Limbaugh, like our own liberal culture hero Lenny Bruce, is a professional commentator who can be as rude and crude as he wants.....

I read this last night - yet more proof that this administration is veering wildly from issue to issue while doing too little to focus on the issue of the moment - the economy. This White House refuses to answer even simple questions, and appears annoyed when any are asked of them. I imagine that comes from nearly two years of a hands-off approach by the media during the campaign that never ended.

This White House needs to get its act together pronto or we are all going to be the worse for it - even more so than we already are.

 

[xsited1]

President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him

Heaven forbid anyone should criticize the chosen one. It must be his staff! (That's was Bill Clinton's problem well, eh?)

 

[PoliticalChic]

President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him

Heaven forbid anyone should criticize the chosen one. It must be his staff! (That's was Bill Clinton's problem well, eh?)

"I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration."
— Hillary Rodham Clinton